My Backyard Course build

[Groffball]

That is so cool, wish I had that kind of ambition.

[MrLee1990]

This is amazing. Shame we don't have big gardens in England. I'm stuck with 30ft square and that's filled up with the kids trampolines, play houses and more toys haha.

[TheMark]

I'm new to crawlers (not RC)... Very VERY nice work! I'd like to have half of your ambition!

[Pete9]

Seriously impressive. Helluva nice job!

[2000UZJ]

Amazing job. I once built a cardboard box course in my living room...complete with pillows and all!

She was NOT happy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CRAWLHARD]

Man what an awesome course, you have inspired me to do the same in my backyard.

[ripper7777777]

WHOA I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted. Well anyways after our family spring break I took a break from the track to put up a new fence. It's about 350' of fencing but it's done and before it gets brutal hot. Now I can get back to the detail work on the track.

I just finished cleaning up all the old fence and debris so here is some new pics of the track, I think the rocks are ageing nicely.

This is really beginning to look like an old river bed.








The wind blew over a stack of 2x6's not too much damage.




I have no idea why the wood is staining the rock like this but I really like it.






This is a shot from where I want to put the driver stand.

[ripper7777777]

Finally another update, spring is such a busy time.

Well not much done on the track itself but I did manage to get the time to build a new spot overlooking the track, the kids call it a tree house I call it a Driver Stand.




















I've gotta get another yard of sand monday, I have couple rocks that got damaged while building the fence and I have to fix the drain so the track doesn't flood.

[XJrob]

Course turned out awesome!

Thank you for the video on doing these. I'm wanting to do a trail on the backside of my backyard and I think 5-6 of these would be perfect and can double as some land scaping to keep the wife happy if placed right.

One question, I seen you had some 2x6s fall on one and just cracked it some. How tough is this Portland stuff when mixed? I ask because we have 4 kids and I see these getting climbed on regularly by them and their friends lol along with the crawlers

[ripper7777777]

Originally Posted by XJrob

Course turned out awesome!

Thank you for the video on doing these. I'm wanting to do a trail on the backside of my backyard and I think 5-6 of these would be perfect and can double as some land scaping to keep the wife happy if placed right.

One question, I seen you had some 2x6s fall on one and just cracked it some. How tough is this Portland stuff when mixed? I ask because we have 4 kids and I see these getting climbed on regularly by them and their friends lol along with the crawlers

Well hopefully now that the kids are home for summer I can shoot a better video.

As far as strength, my 3 kids and their friends run and play on them all the time, we've only had one crack and it was a hollow spot under the concrete. I believe it was 2 or 3 2x6x8's that fell on it. Actually I walk and jump from rock to rock and I'm 220lbs.

See I used debris to build these so they won't be as strong as pure packed dirt, as the wood rots it will open up hollow spots and cause the concrete to crack. I don't recommend using debris but I had a ton of it onsite, so I knew I would be fixing them over the years, which I'm fine with because I like changing them to make new lines as things get boring. Which is why I put on as thin a coat as possible, it's cheap, easy to smash (still need a 3lb sledge though) and easy to change.


Now when I do the rocks around a pond or decorative that I won't be altering, I build with a solid clay/dirt mix that is wet packed solid and I apply 1" to 1.5" portland mix over that and that becomes a real boulder.



The real key to strength is the base dirt. At my last house I had a course built using solid dirt with 1" portland mix and it lasted years, I even held several comps with lots of people, walking and climbing all over them.

[XJrob]

Big thanks to your thread and video on how to make these.

As long as the weather is good, I'm going to attemp a couple of these in my backyard next week

[XJrob]

Again, your the man for this thread and the videos. My first time attempting anything like this and I'm happy with the outcome

I seen on one of the other pages you had to repair a few. How well does it blend back in? Now that I have these completed, the added concrete has made this rock a lot easier then planned. I'd like to add a few rocks to it if it will blend back in well.

[monkeyracer]

Originally Posted by ripper7777777

what he said

Well, I guess you can't post anything anymore, or you will mess up your perfect post count:





Glad to see you back (even though you came back almost a year ago... I've been a little quiet on the forums lately being busy with life in general)

That backyard set up makes me a little jealous. My wife won't let me do anything like this, and the back yard at the new house being built now is tiny, so there's no room even if she did.
My kids are still babies, so it will be a little while before I get to use them as excuses to buy new toys.

Subbed to see more of the backyard build

[ripper7777777]

@ monkeyracer - Well shit, I guess this will ruin it... Yea getting the wife to agree to a backyard like this can be tricky at best.



@ XJrob - Looks great, patches blend in well because it's rocks, when you look at real rocks the color changes, there's different textures, there's cracks etc. If you make changes let the new concrete dry completely, turn white before painting.

I will cover patching soon, I need to make some adjustments and fix some areas.






I've had lots of people asking about the durability of the rocks and how they are holding up to the weather. I've also had people ask if you can walk on them and climb on them. So here is a short video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz-0ztjHbtM

[ripper7777777]

I'm currently working on some of the smaller rock areas, but next week I should be pouring some more concrete.

Here's a few quick videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpYEq6NXKZ4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzsqHEY3s9I


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHfODtXhrtE

[DukeMinnix]

this thread is inspiring. Ive talked my fiancé into letting me do something very similar with landscaping when we buy our forever home.... under the stipulation is includes a waterfall and working river that feeds into an in ground pool Now to win the lottery.

speaking of, and I hope its not too forward, what do you guess you have wrapped in your entire landscape there financially.. lets assume fill and natural rock is of no cost, and not the fencing or observation deck. basically just the canyon mountain range landscape

[ripper7777777]

Originally Posted by DukeMinnix

this thread is inspiring. Ive talked my fiancé into letting me do something very similar with landscaping when we buy our forever home.... under the stipulation is includes a waterfall and working river that feeds into an in ground pool Now to win the lottery.

speaking of, and I hope its not too forward, what do you guess you have wrapped in your entire landscape there financially.. lets assume fill and natural rock is of no cost, and not the fencing or observation deck. basically just the canyon mountain range landscape

Thanks, I completely understand at our last house I had to incorporate the design into the garden, but we have plenty of room here and this area is behind the garage.

Well the natural rocks are the most expensive, but those a side, I think the biggest expense is the mixer, trailer, shovels and other various tools. The sand I use is about 35 bucks a yard and the portland is 10 bucks for 90lb bag.

I maybe have 300 bucks in sand and portland. The fill dirt was cheap also I think it was 150 for 10 tons delivered. It's all pretty cheap, but be prepared for the labor, that's where it will cost you.

[Ascender'nMN84]

Looks like I'll be spending some time in my backyard this weekend. Very impressive! One day I hope my project turns out half as good as this looks.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[DukeMinnix]

Originally Posted by ripper7777777

Thanks, I completely understand at our last house I had to incorporate the design into the garden, but we have plenty of room here and this area is behind the garage.

Well the natural rocks are the most expensive, but those a side, I think the biggest expense is the mixer, trailer, shovels and other various tools. The sand I use is about 35 bucks a yard and the portland is 10 bucks for 90lb bag.

I maybe have 300 bucks in sand and portland. The fill dirt was cheap also I think it was 150 for 10 tons delivered. It's all pretty cheap, but be prepared for the labor, that's where it will cost you.

luckily for me, I live in the great state of West Virginia, and we have river rock a plenty. Helps my grandfather has about a 3k acre farm that the Tygart River runs right through the middle of. I can literally pull down to the river and take my pick of whatever I want, whenever I want. Same with fill. I figured budgeting between 1 and 2 grand, a solid weeks vacation to make it happen if the weather cooperates.

[Yeti.stealth]

Thanks Ripper for sharing your backyard crawler course, I love it. Cleared out a big garden bed that runs most the length of my house today, really hoping to follow your instructions and make a crawler course / Cactus / Rock garden in its place.

How are you enjoying your course? Is it ageing and weathering well?